Automatic armature winding machine

ABSTRACT

In the automatic winding of armatures, the last lead wire from a coil wound in an armature is looped about an appropriate commutator tang and the wire portion connected between the newly wound armature and an unwound armature is cut closely adjacent the aforementioned commutator tang. Also disclosed is a doubleflier apparatus for winding armatures, wirecutting assemblies, and a transfer mechanism adapted to hold the connecting wire portions in a position where they may be cut closely adjacent the tangs about which the wires are looped. In one embodiment the commutator tangs are collapsed at the time the connecting wire portions are cut.

ilnited States Patent [72] Inventors John M. Biddison;

Clarence W. Donnaker, both of Dayton, Ohio [21] Appl. No. 812,258 [22]Filed Apr. 1,1969 [45] Patented Dec. 21, 1971 [73] Assignee The GlobeTool and Engineering Company Dayton, Ohio [54] AUTOMATIC ARMATUREWINDING MACHINE 11 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 29/205 C, 29/596, 29/597, 140/921, 242/705 B [51] Int. ClH021: 15/00 [50] Field of Search 29/205, 205 C, 205 C0, 596,597,598,605; 140/92.1, 92.2; 242/705 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,779,886 1/1957 l-lunsdorf 29/598 X 2,947,427 8/1960 Moore29/205 X 3,474,515 10/1969 Dammar 29/205 3,524,601 8/1970 Biddison etal. 29/605 X Primary Examiner-John F. Campbell Assistant Examiner-CarlE. Hall Attorney-Dybvig & Dybvig ABSTRACT: In the automatic winding ofarmatures, the last lead wire from a coil wound in an armature is loopedabout an appropriate commutator tang and the wire portion connectedbetween the newly wound armature and an unwound armature is cut closelyadjacent the aforementioned commutator tang. Also disclosed is adouble-flier apparatus for winding armatures, wirecutting assemblies,and a transfer mechanism adapted to hold the connecting wire portions ina position where they may be cut closely adjacent the tangs about whichthe wires are looped. In one embodiment the commutator tangs arecollapsed at the time the connecting wire portions are cut.

AUTOMATIC ARMATURE WINDING MACHINE This invention relates to automaticarmature winding and more particularly to a method and apparatus forcutting lengths of wire between successively wound armatures.

Fully automatic machines for winding armatures include mechanism forautomatically loading an unwound armature at a winding station andmechanism for unloading the fully wound armature from the windingstation. When winding armatures having commutators with tangs or hook,the lead wire connections to the commutator tangs are at least partiallycompleted by the coursing of the lead wires over the tangs. When a woundarmature is unloaded from the winding station of a double flier armaturewinding machine, the portions of wire leading from the last pair of leadwires to the fliers remain connected to the fully wound armature as anunwound arma ture is inserted in the winding station. During the windingof the unwound armature the aforementioned connecting wire portionsbetween the armatures are normally out. In accordance with presentpractice, these wire portions are cut in one place at this time and atsome later stage in the handling of the wound armatures the ends of thewires, called start wires," leading to one end of the armature and theends of the wires, called finish wires, leading from the other end ofthe armature are trimmed and parts of the finish wires permanentlyconnected to the commutator. To temporarily hold the finish wirescoursed about the appropriate commutator tangs, partial loops or coilsare formed by the finish wires to hook them about the armature teeth,these partial loops or coils being removed when the finish wires arelater trimmed.

In a copending application titled Automatic Armature Winding, filed byOtto F. Steinke in the U.S. Pat. Office on Aug. 1, 1968, Ser. No.749,381, and assigned to the same assignee as this application, a methodand apparatus are disclosed wherein the connecting wire portions betweensuccessively wound armatures are each simultaneously severed at twoplaces. Thus, each connecting wire portion is severed closely adjacentthe commutator of the wound armature and closely adjacent the oppositeend of the armature shaft of the unwound armature as it is being wound.The finish wires of the wound armature are still partially coiled orlooped about the armature so that they remain in place until latertrimmed. The start wires for the armature being wound need no furthermanipulation or trimming. There are several advantages to the method andapparatus described in the aforementioned Steinke application. In partthere is a considerable saving of the wasted wire which is cut away fromthe armatures and the subsequent handling of the wound armatures issimplified.

It is an object of this invention to further reduce the amount of wastedwire in the automatic winding of armatures and to further simplify thesubsequent handling of automatically wound armatures. In accordance withthis invention, the portions of wire connected between successivelywound armatures may be cut closely adjacent the shaft of the unwoundarmatures as it is being wound in the manner suggested in theaforementioned application of Otto F. Steinke. The finish wires, ratherthan being coursed over the tangs and hooked about the armature teeth asnormally done, are looped about the last tangs and cut closely adjacentto these tangs. As a result there is an additional saving in wasted wirebecause the finish wires are held by being looped about commutatortangs, Therefore, it is unnecessary to form a partial coil of wire fromthe finish wires which would later be cut away. Also no further trimmingor cutting away of the finish wires is required.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method andapparatus for engaging and retaining the wire portions connected betweensuccessively wound armatures in a path or position whereat they mayconveniently be cut by'automatically operating cutter mechanism. Inaccordance with this invention the wire engaging or retaining means isadvantageously mounted on and associated with the transfer mechanismwhich unloads armatures from the winding station.

In some cases the wire used in winding armatures may be of such acharacter that the mere looping of the wire about a commutator tang willnot be sufficient to retain it in place. Accordingly, it is a furtherobject to provide mechanism for bending the tangs about which the finishwires are looped to clamp the finish wires thereto substantiallysimultaneously with the cutting of the finish wires.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription and the drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of an armature wound in accordance withthis invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the portion of the woundarmature of FIG. 1 enclosed within the circle 2--2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partial, simplified front elevational view of a double-flierarmature-winding machine and illustrating portions of cutter assembliesincorporated therein. FIG. 3 alsoshows an armature with a pair of woundcoils;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a portion of the machine of FIG. 2with a fully wound annature;

FIG. 5 is a simplified and partially schematic side elevational viewshowing a portion of the armature-winding machine, a fully woundarmature with parts of the commutator and lead connections theretoomitted, an armature transfer mechanism and a wire-retaining mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrating thewound armature moved from a winding station to a wirecutting station bythe transfer mechanism. FIG. 6 also shows a portion of a cutterassembly;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 6 with an unwoundarmature being wound at the winding station and with cutter assembliesadvanced to cut the connecting wire portions between the wound and theunwound armatures;

FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view, as viewed in the direction of arrows8-8 of FIG. 7 and illustrating the cutter assembly for cutting theconnecting wire portions closely adjacent the shaft of the unwoundarmature;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view as viewed in the direction of thearrows 99 of FIG. 7 showing the wound armature and the cutter assembliesfor cutting the finish wires closely adjacent the wound armatures;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to the center portion of FIG. 9 illustratingmodified cutter assemblies. To minimize the confusion of lines, only thefinish wires are shown for the armature of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 showing the modified cutterassemblies thereof severing the finish wires.

Referring to FIG. I in greater detail, an armature, generally designated10, is illustrated of the type having a laminated core 12 and acommutator 14 mounted on an armature shaft 16. The commutator 14 has aplurality of circumferentially spaced commutator segments 18 terminatingin hook-shaped tangs 20 adjacent one end of the laminated core 12. Thecore 12 has a plurality of radially extending slots 22 separated by T-shaped teeth 24 which receive a coil winding 26. As well known,armatures of this type have appropriate insulating members to preventelectrical contact between the winding 26 and the other parts of thearmature 10 such as, for example, the insulating sleeve 28 received onthe armature shaft 16 adjacent the core 12 opposite the commutator 14.When the armature 10 is assembled with the parts of a complete motor(not shown), portions of the armature shaft 16 projecting beyond thesleeve 28 and beyond the commutator 12 are journaled for rotation inmotor bearings.

The basic winding pattern for the armature 10 illustrated in FIG. l isknown in the art as an automotive" pattern and is commonly used in avariety of applications in the automotive industry. This basic windingpattern, which is more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,855,issued to Ernest C. Allen on Dec. 29, 1942, readily lends itself toautomatic winding by the use of double-flier armature winding machineswherein pairs of coils are simultaneously wound by the two fliers withone-half the total number of coils wound being wound from a singlelength of wire and the other half being wound from another single lengthof wire.

FIG. 1 shows the cut end 30 of one of these two lengths of wire adjacentthe armature shaft 16 opposite from the commutator 14. The cut end 30 iscalled a start wire and, of course, there are two such start wires, theother start wire being hidden by the shaft 16 in FIG. 1. At the start ofthe winding of the armature 10, the start wires 30 are laid into thebottom of a spaced pair of armature slots 22 and coursed about a pair ofspaced tangs 20, one of which is designated a in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thewires leading from the start wires 30 are then wound into coils, such asthose designated 32 in FIG. 3, in pairs of spaced slots 22. After thewinding of the first pair of coils 32 is completed, the wires arecoursed over other spaced commutator tangs 20 to form wire commutatorlead connections 34 and another pair of coils wound in different pairsof spaced slots 22. In a double-flier winding machine both of thelengths of wire forming the winding 26 are simultaneously wound to formcoils and coursed over the tangs 20 between the coils until the lastpair of coils forming the winding 26 is wound.

The present practice is to then course the finish wires extending fromthe last pair of coils about the same commutator tangs 20a which thestart wires 30 are coursed over, and then through another pair of slots22 so that the finish wires form a partial loop or coil and projectadjacent and behind the commutator 14. In the automatic winding ofsuccessive armatures, the finish wires remain connected to the windingof the next armature to be wound until severed at some later time. Theaforementioned application of Otto F. Steinke discloses a method andapparatus for cutting the partial loops or coils closely adjacent thecommutators of wound armatures. Later in the handling of the woundarmatures the portions of the finish wires partially looped through theslots 22 are cut away close to the end face of the commutator from whichthe tangs project.

In accordance with this invention, the finish wires, one of which isindicated at 36 in FIGS. 1 and 2, are not simply coursed over thecommutator tangs 20:: but rather are looped about the commutator tangs20a and then, as the winding of the next armature is in progress, thefinish wires 36 are cut closely adjacent the commutator tangs 200. As aresult, the wasted wire previously resulting from the partial looping orcoiling of the finish wires through pairs of slots is saved and,further, the later trimming away of the wasted wire adjacent thecommutator tangs 20a is unnecessary.

Depending upon the diameter and flexibility of the finish wires 36, themere looping of the finish wires about the tangs 20a may be sufficientto lock the finish wires in place. With some types of wire, however, itmay be necessary to clamp the looped finish wires 36 to the commutatortangs 200. This can conveniently be done by bending or collapsing thetangs 20a upon themselves to clamp the finish wires 36 thereto. After anarmature has been fully wound as illustrated in FIG. 1, it may befinished by staking the tangs 20 and 20a to the start wires 30 andfinish wires 36 as well as all of the other lead connections 34. Also,as well known, the windings may be impregnated with suitable compoundsand insulating wedges inserted into the tops of the slots 22. Because ofthis invention, no additional attention need be devoted to the finishwires.

Apparatus for winding the armature 10 and cutting the start and finishwires will now be described. Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and S, the armature10 is shown supported between a pair of wire guide chucks or windingforms 38 of a double-flier armature winding machine, generallydesignated 40, the armature 10 being supported partly by the concavelycurved surfaces of the chucks 38 and partly by a chuck assembly (notshown) clamped to the end of the armature shaft 16 adjacent thecommutator 14. The wire guide wings 38 are mounted upon mounting plates42 which have bearing housings 44 thereon that rotatably receive flierspindles 46 upon which are affixed fliers 48. The flier spindles 46 arerotatably received within drive housings 50 and are affixed in relationto the machine bed (not shown) upon which is mounted suitable drivemechanisms (not shown) by which the fliers 48 are rotated tosimultaneously wind a pair of coils in the armature 10.

The pair of wires, designated W, forming the coils in the armature 10are coursed through the flier spindles 46 and around wire guide pulleys52 on the fliers 48. The wires W emanate from wire supplies (not shown)and are placed under tension at or near the wire supplies so that, asthe fliers 48 rotate, the wires will be drawn from the wire supplied andguided between sloping surfaces of the wire guide chucks 38 to form apair of coils. When the first armature to be wound is loaded in thewinding machine 40 between the wire guide chucks 38, the free ends ofthe wires W are clamped or held in any suitable fashion. As will becomeapparent, the clamping of the wires for successively wound armatures isnot required.

The fliers 48, when viewed from the front of the machine 40 as in FIG.3, rotate in opposite directions when winding coils. For example, theright hand flier 48 of FIG. 3 may rotate in a top going" direction. Thatis, the right-hand flier 48 rotates in such a manner that its pulley 52would appear to be moving down through the plane of the drawing. Theleft-hand flier would then rotate in a top coming" direction or oppositethat of the right-hand flier. The machine 40 as thus far described maybe entirely conventional and, accordingly, the complete construction andoperation of the various mechanisms thereof, such as the drives for thechucks 38 and for the fliers 48, are not illustrated herein. Suitabledrives for fully automatic double-flier armature winding machines arewell known. A flier drive mechanism, for example, is shown in U.S. Pat.No. 3,371,483, issued to Robert C. Gray et al. on Mar. 5, 1968.

Those skilled in the art are aware that the commutator lead connections34 between the wound coils can be accomplished in various ways. Theaforementioned Allen U.S. Pat., No. 2,306,855, discloses the use of afixed shield in a partially automatic armature winding machine whichshields the commutator tangs during the winding of an armature butpermits the wire to be hooked over preselected commutator tangs as theresult of a combined movement of the rotating fliers and the indexing ofthe armature. We prefer a movable shield similar to the shield 40 shownin U.S. Pat. No. 3,23l,206, granted to Harry W. Moore on Jan. 25, 1966,the movable shield being moved from tang shielding to unshieldingpositions between the winding of coils and the wire being hooked aboutselected commutator tangs either by movement of a wire-deflecting deviceor by rotation of the armature being wound and the fliers. Since themechanisms by which the commutator lead connections between coils areformed are not important to this invention, they are not disclosed indetail herein. However, a portion of a movable tang shield, designated54, for this purpose is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7.

After the winding of the last pair of coils, the finish wires 36 arelooped about the tangs 200 as previously mentioned. For this purpose,the fliers 48 may be stopped in the positions thereof indicated byphantom lines 48a in FIG. 4 with the finish wires 36 closely adjacentthe commutator tangs 20, the fliers 48 then being rotated in a reversedirection opposite to that they are rotated when winding coils, and whenforming the lead wires 34 between coils, as the tang shield 54 isremoved. This movement of the fliers 48 serves to course the finishwires 36 about the tangs 20a in a direction opposite to the direction inwhich the start wires 30 and lead wires 34 are coursed about the tangs20a. This can best be understood by reference to FIG. 2. The shield 54is then moved to its tang shielding position. At this time the fliers 48are positioned as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 4 as well as inFIGS. 5 and 6, the fliers 48 being reversed through approximately 120 orless.

. The finish wires 36 can then be completely looped about the tangs 20aby rotating or indexing the armature 10 through several degrees in thesame direction it is indexed during the armature winding cycle. Thiscauses a portion, designated 36a in FIG. 2, of the finish wire 36 to betwisted about the surface of the tang 20a confronting the adjacentsurface of the armature core 12. Projecting beyond this portion 36a ofthe finish wire 36 to the flier pulleys 52 are lengths of the wires W,designated 56 in FIG. 4, which ultimately will become connecting wireportions that connect the wound armature 10 to a subsequent armature tobe wound as will be described below. The lastumentioned index of thearmature 16 causes the connecting wire portions 56 to move from thefull-line position thereof shown in FIG. 4 to the phantom line positiondesignated 56 in FIG. 4.

The winding of the armature I and all of the connections from the coilsto the commutator tangs 20 and 20a are completed when the armature I0 isheld between the chucks 38 at a position which, for convenience, isreferred to herein as the winding station A. With the fliers 48temporarily held stationary, the wound armature 10 can now betransferred from the winding station A to an idle or wire cuttingstation designated B in FIGS. 6 and 7.

After the armature 110 is fully wound it is transferred from the windingstation A to the wirecutting station B by transfer mechanism such asthat generally designated 58 in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. As schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 5, the transfer mechanism 58 may include a carriage60 having a pair of car riage plates 62 and 64 interconnected by braces66 slidably mounted upon a pair of guide rods 68 that are fixed relativeto the bed of the machine. Mounted on the carriage plate 62 is anarmature clamp device comprising a fixed clamp arm 70 and a pivotalclamp arm 72, the latter arm being pivotally connected to the carriageplate 62 as by a pivot pin 74. The two clamp arms 70 and 72 aresubstantially diametrically opposed with respect to the longitudinalaxis of the armature It), when located at the winding station A, and thecarriage 60 is movable between the winding station A and the wirecuttingstation B along an axis coaxial or parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe armature 110. The carriage 60 may be so moved by an air actuator 76connected, as indicated at 78, to a fixed part of the machine.

Connected between the fixed clamp arm 70 and the movable clamp arm 72 isa clamping air actuator 80. When the carriage 60 has been advancedtoward the winding station A by the air actuator 76, the piston 82 ofthe air actuator 80 is retracted, thereby raising the movable clamp arm72 into engagement with the wound armature 10 whereupon it is clampedbetween the two clamp arms 70 and 72. FIG. illustrates the clamp arms 70and 72 in phantom lines just prior to clamping the armature at thewinding station A. The air actuator 76 is then energized to return thecarriage 60 to the left as viewed in FIG. 5 to thereby position thearmature 10 at the winding station B, as shown in FIG. 6, the armature10 then being held solely by the clamp arms 70 and 72.

Simultaneously with the transfer of the woundarmature 10 from thewinding station A to the wirecutting station E, the connecting wireportions 56 adjacent the commutator M are engaged by wire-retainingdevices 84 for holding short lengths thereof, designated 56a, outwardlyfrom the commutator 14 in a plane which is nearly perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the armature 10. The wire-retaining devices M- holdthe short lengths of wire 56a relative to the commutator tangs insubstantially the same position these lengths of wire occupy when thewound armature 10 is at the winding station A and the fliers 68positioned as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 4t and in FIG. 5.Accordingly, there is no tendency forthe finish wires to unravel fromthe tangs 20a and the short lengths of wire 56a are held in a convenientposition at the wirecutting station E to be severed by cuttingmechanisms which will be described below.

The wire-retaining devices 84 include wire-engaging hooks 86 mounted onthe ends of elongate rods 88 that are rectangular in cross section andare slidably received within rectangular, longitudinally extending boresin the clamp arms 70 and 72 from which the rods 88 derive support. Theends of the rods 88 farthest from the winding station A are bent towardone another and received within a peripheral groove 90 of a disc 92mounted on the end of a piston 94 of an air actuator 96, the elements90, 92, 94 and 96 being shown in phantom lines in FIG. 5. The airactuator 96 is affixed to the carriage plate 64 and, accordingly,movable therewith. In operation the rods 88 are, as illustrated in FIG.6, normally located relative to the clamp arms and 72 with the hooks d6projecting forwardly therefrom in the position illustrated in FIG. 6.When the carriage 66 is advanced toward the winding station A, the airactuator 96 and, accordingly, the rods 66 are carried therewith. Afterapproaching the winding station A, the air actuator 96 is energized toextend its piston 94$ whereupon the hooks 66 are projected forwardlyfrom the adjacent ends of the clamp arms 70 and 72 beyond the wireportions 56 projected between the commutator tangs 20a and the flierpulleys 52 at the winding station A. Immediately thereafter the airactuator 96 is energized to retract its piston 94 whereupon the hooks 66which cammed past the wire portions 56 now trap the wire portions 56against the rods 68. When the carriage 60 is subsequently retracted fromthe winding station A to transfer the wound armature 110 to thewirecutting station B, the piston 96 remains retracted and the shortlengths of wire 56a are retained as illustrated in FIG. 6. It will beobserved that the pivotal movement of the lower clamp arm 72 does notinterfere with the operation of the lower wire-retaining member 64because the trailing end of the lower 'rod 83 can pivot within thegroove 96.

After the wound armature 116 has been transferred to the wire cuttingstation B as described above, an unwound armature 106 (FIG. 7) is movedinto the winding station A between the chucks 3E and a cutter assembly,generally designated 1102, is positioned between the armatures l0 andMN). The fliers li and the shield 54l are then appropriately moved tohook parts 106 of the wires W over selected commutator tangs 26' of theunwound armature 100 and the fliers 58 rotated to commence the windingof coils in the unwound armature I00. Depending upon the winding patternused, the armature may be first indexed by mechanism (not shown) formingpart of the armature winding machine 60. In any event, the tightly woundcoils of wire effectively clamp themselves to the armature I60 whereuponthe connecting wire portions 57 between the wound armature l0 and thearmature I00, which is now being wound, can safely be cut away after afew turns or coils of wire have been wound.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the cutter assembly 1102 is designed to cutthe connecting wire portions 56 immediately adjacent the end of theshaft 104i of the unwound armature Wt) opposite from its commutator Mand includes a cutter support plate 106 mounted for vertical movementwith respect to a bracket 110 mounted on a plate 112 or the like whichis fixed with respect to the bed of the machine. Mounted on the bracket1110 is a vertically mounted fluid operated cutter positioning cylinderIll-4i having an upwardly projecting piston rod lll6 connected to thecutter support plate 106. A vertically extending guide rod 118 connectedto the support plate I08 passes through bushings I20 and an aperture inthe fixed bracket 110 in parallel relation to the piston rod 116. Theentire cutter assembly 12 is movable from a lower position, as indicatedby the part thereof shown in FIG. 6, to an upper position, as shown inFIG. 7, by operation of the cutter positioning cylinder 1114-, thecutter assembly 102 being guided in this movement by the guide rod I118.Suitable stops (not shown) associated with the cutter assembly 1102 orwith the piston rod 116 may be used to accurately determine the extremeupper and lower positions of the cutter assembly 102.

Mounted on top of the cutter support plate 108 is a doublecuttermechanism, generally designated 122, which includes a narrow upwardlyextending fixed cutter plate 124, mounted on the cutter support plateM16 having, as viewed in FIG. 6, an upper, left side, verticallyextending cutting edge I26 and a lower, right side, vertically extendingcutting edge I28. Cooperating with the fixed cutter plate 1124 is adouble-edge knife blade having left and right, upper and lower,vertically extending cutting edges 132 and 134-, respectively, the knifeblade 130 being mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis on thefixed cutting plate 124- by a pivot pin 136. Pivotally connected to thebottom of the knife blade 130 is a drive link I36 which is affixed toone end ofa cutter drive rod M0 journaled for rotation in a bore in thefixed cutter plate 124. The cutter drive rod 140 is affixed to a drivelink 142 which in turn is pivotally mounted upon a fixture 144 fixed tothe piston rod 146 of a fluid-operated cutter drive cylinder 148 mountedon the cutter support plate 108.

In operation, the cutter assembly 102 is so positioned with respect tothe wire portions 56 before the fliers 48 are rotated to wind coils inthe unwound armature 100 that, as the fliers 48 begin to rotate, theconnecting wire portions 56 are drawn toward the cutter assembly 102 andbetween the upper cutting edges 126 and 132 and the lower cutting edges128 and 134. Thereafter when it is desired to cut the wire portions 56closely adjacent the unwound armature 100, the cutter drive cylinder 148is energized to retract its piston 146 causing the double-edged knifeblade 130 to rotate in a clockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 8)whereupon the parts of the connecting wire portions 56 trapped betweenthe aforementioned cutting edges are severed. Conventional machinecontrols are used to cause the operation of the cylinders 114 and 148 intimed relation to the operation of the fliers 48 as well as the transfermechanism 58 described above. Also, the same conventional machinecontrols are used to cause the wire portions 56 to be severed closelyadjacent to the tangs 20a of the wound armature as will be describedbelow. None of the machine timing controls have been illustrated herein,such devices being old and well known.

The wire portions 56a are cut closely adjacent the commutator tangs a ofthe wound armature 10 by a pair of cutter assemblies 150 and 152 whichare illustrated in FIGS. 3, 7 and 9. Referring to FIG. 7, the cutterassembly 150 includes a support plate or bracket 154 mounted on a plate156 or the like which is fixed in relation to the bed of the machine.Extending through a bore 158 in the bracket 154 is a piston rod 160 ofacutter drive air actuator 162 affixed to the bracket 154. Mounted on thefree end of a link 164 attached by a fitting 166 to the free end of thepiston rod 160 is a pivotal cutter blade 168 having a forward cuttingedge which cooperates with the cutting edge of a relatively fixedcutting blade 170 mounted on a guide rod or shaft 172 which projectsthrough a bore 174 in a guide block 176 which in turn is mounted on thesupport bracket 154. Referring also to FIG. 9, the pivotal cutter blade168 is generally triangular with one corner being pivotally connected asby a volt 178 to the fixed cutter blade 170 and by a pivot pin 180 tothe link 164 which in turn is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 182 tothe fitting 166. Connected between the pivot pin 180 and a lug 184 onthe fixed cutter blade 170 is a relatively strong coil spring 186.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that, when the air actuator 162is energized to move the piston rod 160 toward the armature 10 at thewinding station B, the pivotal cutter blade 168 and fixed cutter blade170 initially move together, the parts being guided by the confinementof the guide rod 172 within the bore 174. When the relatively fixedcutter blade 170 is located approximately in the position shown in FIG.7, a stop (not shown) coacting between the guide rod 172 and the guideblock 176 prevents further linear movement of the parts of the cuttermechanism toward the armature shaft 16. At this time the bias of thecoil spring 186 is overcome whereupon the pivotal cutter blade 168pivots about the axis of the bolt 178 whereupon the short length of wire56a, which now is trapped between the blades I68 and 170, is cut with ascissorslike action. The construction and operation of the cutterassembly 152 may be identical to that of the cutter assembly 150 and thecorresponding parts thereof have been given corresponding referencecharacters. For purposes of illustration the cutter assembly 152 isshown affixed to the same plate 112 which serves as a mounting for thecutter assembly 102. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, asidefrom their location and function, the cutter assemblies 150 and 152 maybe entirely conventional and a variety of cutter mechanisms arecommercially available which would suit the purposes of this invention.

The severed ends of the finish wires looped about the tangs 20a inpractice can be cut sufficiently close to the tangs 20a that no furthercutting or trimming of these cut ends is necessary. In subsequent hotstaking or similar operations, the tangs 20a require no specialattention and can be treated identically to the other tangs 20. Becausethe start wires are brought down close to the armature shaft away fromthe bearing area thereof, they also require no further attention. Thus,when a wound armature 10 is moved from the wirecutting station B, thewindings are complete and no further handling of the wires forming thewindings is required. The removal of the wound armature 10 from thewirecutting station B is not described herein since this can beaccomplished in many ways, as well known. In usual operation, eachsuccessively wound armature will be first moved from the winding stationA to station B and then to a hot staking station (not shown) for morepermanently attaching the lead wires to the tangs. It will be observedthat a minimum length of wasted wire between successively woundarmatures is cut away. In mass production the reduction of the amount ofwasted wire is quite significant. For example, this invention may saveenough wire to wind several additional armatures each day.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show slightly modified cutter assemblies designated and152' used to cut the short lengths of wire 56a close to the commutatortangs 20a. The twisting of the finish wires about the tangs 20a may notbe sufficient in some 'cases to prevent these finish wires fromunraveling after they are cut. As previously suggested, unraveling ofthe finish wires can be prevented by bending or collapsing the tangs20a, thereby clamping the wire looped about thereto. This canconveniently be accomplished by means of hammer members 188 mounted onor integral with the relatively fixed cutter blades as shown in FIGS. 10and 11. As the cutter assemblies 150 and 152 are advanced toward thearmature shaft 16, the hammer members 188 engage the free ends of thetangs 20a, collapsing these free ends upon the fixed ends of the tangs20a to firmly clamp the finish wires. This operation can be bestunderstood by reference to FIG. 10 in which the hammer members 188 arejust beginning to engage the free ends of the tangs 20a and FIG. 11 inwhich the tangs 20a have been collapsed and the wire portions 56asevered. In both FIGS. 10 and 11 the size of the hammer members 188 havebeen exaggerated as well as the length of the severed end of the wireportions 560 looped about the tangs 20a for purposes of better showingthe operation thereof.

We claim:

1. In an armature winding machine of the type having a pair of rotatingfliers and a pair of winding forms for directing wires into pairs ofslots in an armature core mounted on an armature shaft and supportedbetween said pair of fliers, of the type wherein leads are automaticallymade to commutator tangs of a commutator mounted on said shaft adjacentsaid core during the winding of an armature, and of the type wherein awound armature is removed from its position between the fliers with twolengths of wire leading from a pair of commutator tangs of the woundarmature to the fliers, an unwound armature being then supported betweenthe fliers for the winding of coils in said unwound armature, apparatusfor cutting the lengths of connecting wires between said wound armatureand said unwound armature including means engaging the connecting wiresbetween said wound armature and said unwound armature for holding thesections of said connecting wires adjacent the commutator of said woundar mature in planes nearly perpendicularly intersecting said shaft, andwire cutting means for cutting said ends of said connecting wiresimmediately adjacent said commutator.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein the last pair of commutator leadconnections is made by looping said wires about a pair of commutatortangs, and further including means for bending said pair of commutatortangs to clamp the wires thereto.

3. The machine of claim 1 wherein said wirecutting means includes a pairof wire cutting assemblies, one for each of said connecting wires, eachof said wirecutting assemblies including cutter blades movable towardand away from said ends of said connecting wires, and means foradvancing said cutter blades into wirecutting positions.

4. The machine of claim 3 wherein the last pair of commutator leadconnections is made by looping said wires about a pair of commutatortangs, and further including means for bending said pair of commutatortangs to clamp the wires thereto.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein said means for bending said pair ofcommutator tangs is carried by one of said cutter blades of each of saidwirecutting assemblies.

6. In an armature winding machine of the type having a pair of rotatingfliers and a pair of winding forms for directing wires into pairs ofslots in an armature core supported between said pair of fliers, of thetype wherein commutator lead connections are automatically formed in thewinding of an armature, and of the type including transfer means forremoving a wound armature from its position between the fliers with twolengths of wire leading from a pair of commutator tangs of the woundarmature to the fliers, an unwound armature being then supported betweenthe pair of fliers for the winding of coils in said unwound armature,the improvement wherein said transfer means comprises clamp means forgripping a wound armature and wire-engaging means carried by said clampmeans for engaging said two lengths of wire leading from said pair ofcommutator tangs of the wound armature to the fliers and holding saidtwo lengths of wire so that portions thereof extend outwardly from theshaft of said wound armature, and wirecutting means for cutting saidportions of wire immediately adjacent the commutator tangs of said woundarmature.

7. The machine of claim 6 wherein the last pair of commutator leadconnections is made by looping said wires about a pair of commutatortangs, and further including means for bending said pair of commutatortangs to clamp the wires thereto.

8. The machine of claim 6 wherein said wirecutting means includes a pairof wirecutting assemblies, one for each of said connecting wires, eachof said wirecutting assemblies includin g cutter blades movable towardand away from said portions ill of wire, and means for advancing saidcutter blades into a wirecutting position.

9. The machine of claim 8 wherein one of said cutter blades of each ofsaid wirecutting assemblies has means thereon for engaging and bendingthe commutator tangs of said wound armature to which said connectingwires are connected.

10. A machine for automatically winding armatures of the type wherein atleast one rotating flier is rotated to wind coils of wire guided by awire guide into slots of an armature core mounted on an armature shaftand supported adjacent said flier and of the type wherein leadconnections are made to commutator tangs of a commutator mounted on saidshaft adjacent said core by relative movements of the flier and thearmature being wound, the improvement wherein said machine is providedwith automatically openated wire cutter means adapted to cut the sectionof wire leading from the last commutator tang to which the wire isconnected at the end of the winding of an armature, said wire cuttermeans being operable to cut said section of wire immediately adjacentsaid last-mentioned tang and sufficiently close to said last-mentionedtang that no further trimming of wire therefrom is required,wireengaging means operatively associated with said wire cutter meansfor retaining said section of wire in a plane nearly perpendicularlyintersecting said armature shaft at the end of the winding of anarmature and prior to the operation of said cutter means, said wireengaging means engaging said wire at a point remote from said armatureshaft and retaining said wire in said plane and in the path of operationof said wire cutter means, and automatically operated means for movingsaid wire-engaging means into engagement with said wire.

11. The machine of claim 10 wherein said improvement further includestransfer means including a clamp for gripping the wound armature andoperative to remove the wound armature from its position adjacent saidflier after the winding of the wound armature is completed, and whereinsaid wire-engaging means 15 mounted upon said transfer means formovement therewith.

1. In an armature winding machine of the type having a pair of rotatingfliers and a pair of winding forms for directing wires into pairs ofslots in an armature core mounted on an armature shaft and supportedbetween said pair of fliers, of the type wherein leads are automaticallymade to commutator tangs of a commutator mounted on said shaft adjacentsaid core during the winding of an armature, and of the type wherein awound armature is removed from its position between the fliers with twolengths of wire leading from a pair of commutator tangs of the woundarmature to the fliers, an unwound armature being then supported betweenthe fliers for the winding of coils in said unwound armature, apparatusfor cutting the lengths of connecting wires between said wound armatureand said unwound armature including means engaging the connecting wiresbetween said wound armature and said unwound armature for holding thesections of said connecting wires adjacent the commutator of said woundarmature in planes nearly perpendicularly intersecting said shaft, andwire cutting means for cutting said ends of said connecting wiresimmediately adjacent said commutator.
 2. The machine of claim 1 whereinthe last pair of commutator lead connections is made by looping saidwires about a pair of commutator tangs, and further including means forbending said pair of commutator tangs to clamp the wires thereto.
 3. ThemachinE of claim 1 wherein said wirecutting means includes a pair ofwire cutting assemblies, one for each of said connecting wires, each ofsaid wirecutting assemblies including cutter blades movable toward andaway from said ends of said connecting wires, and means for advancingsaid cutter blades into wirecutting positions.
 4. The machine of claim 3wherein the last pair of commutator lead connections is made by loopingsaid wires about a pair of commutator tangs, and further including meansfor bending said pair of commutator tangs to clamp the wires thereto. 5.The machine of claim 4 wherein said means for bending said pair ofcommutator tangs is carried by one of said cutter blades of each of saidwirecutting assemblies.
 6. In an armature winding machine of the typehaving a pair of rotating fliers and a pair of winding forms fordirecting wires into pairs of slots in an armature core supportedbetween said pair of fliers, of the type wherein commutator leadconnections are automatically formed in the winding of an armature, andof the type including transfer means for removing a wound armature fromits position between the fliers with two lengths of wire leading from apair of commutator tangs of the wound armature to the fliers, an unwoundarmature being then supported between the pair of fliers for the windingof coils in said unwound armature, the improvement wherein said transfermeans comprises clamp means for gripping a wound armature andwire-engaging means carried by said clamp means for engaging said twolengths of wire leading from said pair of commutator tangs of the woundarmature to the fliers and holding said two lengths of wire so thatportions thereof extend outwardly from the shaft of said wound armature,and wirecutting means for cutting said portions of wire immediatelyadjacent the commutator tangs of said wound armature.
 7. The machine ofclaim 6 wherein the last pair of commutator lead connections is made bylooping said wires about a pair of commutator tangs, and furtherincluding means for bending said pair of commutator tangs to clamp thewires thereto.
 8. The machine of claim 6 wherein said wirecutting meansincludes a pair of wirecutting assemblies, one for each of saidconnecting wires, each of said wirecutting assemblies including cutterblades movable toward and away from said portions of wire, and means foradvancing said cutter blades into a wirecutting position.
 9. The machineof claim 8 wherein one of said cutter blades of each of said wirecuttingassemblies has means thereon for engaging and bending the commutatortangs of said wound armature to which said connecting wires areconnected.
 10. A machine for automatically winding armatures of the typewherein at least one rotating flier is rotated to wind coils of wireguided by a wire guide into slots of an armature core mounted on anarmature shaft and supported adjacent said flier and of the type whereinlead connections are made to commutator tangs of a commutator mounted onsaid shaft adjacent said core by relative movements of the flier and thearmature being wound, the improvement wherein said machine is providedwith automatically operated wire cutter means adapted to cut the sectionof wire leading from the last commutator tang to which the wire isconnected at the end of the winding of an armature, said wire cuttermeans being operable to cut said section of wire immediately adjacentsaid last-mentioned tang and sufficiently close to said last-mentionedtang that no further trimming of wire therefrom is required,wire-engaging means operatively associated with said wire cutter meansfor retaining said section of wire in a plane nearly perpendicularlyintersecting said armature shaft at the end of the winding of anarmature and prior to the operation of said cutter means, said wireengaging means engaging said wire at a point remote from said armatureshaft and retaining said wire in said plane and in the path of operationof said wire cutter means, and auTomatically operated means for movingsaid wire-engaging means into engagement with said wire.
 11. The machineof claim 10 wherein said improvement further includes transfer meansincluding a clamp for gripping the wound armature and operative toremove the wound armature from its position adjacent said flier afterthe winding of the wound armature is completed, and wherein saidwire-engaging means is mounted upon said transfer means for movementtherewith.